THE WELL

Irony of the mindless modern development. 

- Sundar Rajan

I live in an apartment in Chennai, a city which is dependent on rains for recharging its water resources. Monsoon failures result in acute water scarcity and severe drought.

A couple of years ago, Chennai experienced the rainfall of the century, followed, next year, by a cyclonic storm with very high wind speeds that uprooted many trees across the city. The reservoirs overflowed. On both the occasions, in several localities, people had to be evacuated by boats; many lost their lives, too.

Instinctively, all the citizens joined hands in providing support and relief for those who were stranded or were in distress.

In many apartments, the ground floor was flooded. Household articles, including vehicles were washed away. The fury of the storm treated the rich and the poor alike.

While the people were coming out of this traumatic experience, the scorching summer followed. This resulted in the reservoirs drying up, leading to a drought and severe water scarcity. Water was now dearer than gold.

It was in such a situation that I struck gold, not in my backyard but in my bedroom. To put your curiosity to rest, let me narrate further.

At some point in our lives each of us cherish the hope of owning a house.

Not to be left behind in this, my wife and I started discussing on whether to go in for an independent house with a well and a nice garden or opt for an apartment.

Obviously, the location was also a key factor in our discussion.

When we started making enquiries we realised that owning an independent house could be just a dream.

The price was just nowhere within our reach. We consoled ourselves with the fact that maintaining an independent house would be time consuming and expensive, in addition, the security issues had to be considered...